The Khalili Foundation and The Prince’s Trust, through the Mosaic Initiative, together launch an exciting new social integration and youth leadership project.
The partnership begins with a yearlong pilot programme which will enable young people and young professionals to co-design and co-deliver training and Prince’s Trust programme activity.
The pilot run with the Khalili Foundation will adopt the principles underpinning the Mosaic initiative to build cohesive societies through the power of relatable connection and aspirational mobility. Serving to help young people and young professionals to lead dialogue and discussion around global citizenship: issues of difference, intercultural relations and resilience to difference and change – particularly pertinent in a period of global social and economic uncertainty.
The Trust will identify and recruit young leaders – aspirational and role models in their own right – and will link them to the tried and tested international interfaith and intercultural citizenship programme developed by the Khalili Foundation. This content will also be the foundation for new modules that will be embedded across the range of Prince’s Trust educational, employability and careers programmes.
The partnership will see the embedding of intercultural training content within programme resources and will be trialled within the Mosaic mentoring programme, including through the training of Mosaic volunteer mentors.
Moreover, the partnership will seek to imbed the Interfaith Explorers programme – a pioneering digital learning resource for primary and secondary school children focused on building greater interfaith and intercultural understanding – into the Prince’s Trust network of schools and learning places.
The Khalili Foundation is a pioneer in the field of interfaith and intercultural education. The Foundation has partnered with the Commonwealth Secretariat to produce and evaluate learning methods and materials aimed at promoting global citizenship and religious and cultural literacy. Professor Sir Nasser David Khalili, founder and chairman of the Foundation, was recently recognised by Her Majesty The Queen with a knighthood in the 2020 Birthday Honours list for services to Interfaith Relations and Charity and referred to by HM Government as “the embodiment of interfaith harmony”.
Sir David said: “This partnership with the Prince’s Trust serves our longstanding mission to foster greater harmony between young people of different faiths and cultures. The Prince’s Trust is a global pioneer in youth engagement and development, and we are proud and excited to join forces with them to deliver grassroots education and training that has real impact.”
Commenting on the new partnership, CEO of the Prince’s Trust Jonathan Townsend said:
“We are delighted to be working with the Khalili Foundation on the exciting new global citizenship and youth leadership project, connected to Mosaic and the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.”
The need for interfaith and intercultural education has never been greater, given recent events that have highlighted the importance of tackling prejudice based on faith, culture and race. Beyond the young leaders, volunteer mentors will now also have access to inter-cultural training that can link back to their communities and add value, whilst simultaneously connecting diverse communities deeper into the Trust.
About Khalili Foundation:
Over the past three decades, the Khalili Foundation has been a global leader in promoting interfaith and intercultural relations. The Foundation has supported and driven a number of internationally recognised projects that use the power of culture and education to bring people together. These have included key partnerships with the Commonwealth and UNESCO.
About The Prince’s Trust
The Prince’s Trust helps young people all over the UK to build their confidence and skills and supports them into jobs, education and training. Founded by The Prince of Wales in 1976, the charity supports 11 to 30 year-olds who are unemployed, struggling at school and at risk of exclusion.
Many of the young people helped by The Trust’s youth support workers and mentors are in or leaving care, facing issues such as homelessness, mental health problems, or have been in trouble with the law.
The courses offered by The Trust give young people the practical and financial support needed to stabilise their lives, helping develop self-esteem and skills for work. Three in four young people supported by The Prince’s Trust move into work, education or training.
The Trust has helped over a million young people to date. Further information about The Prince’s Trust is available at princes-trust.org.uk or on 0800 842 842.
About Mosaic
Founded by HRH The Prince of Wales in 2007, Mosaic formally joined The Prince’s Trust in 2016. Mosaic’s mentoring programmes create opportunities for young people growing up in our most deprived and diverse communities, with a vision that all young people be supported to realise and fulfil their potential whatever their circumstance or background.
With the help of volunteer mentors acting as positive relatable role models, Mosaic aims to bridge the aspirations-attainment gap. By linking young people with inspirational role models in this way, we boost their confidence, self-efficacy and long-term employability, helping The Prince’s Trust reach a million more young people.
